The United States Postal Service is kicking off its National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign – an opportunity to let letter carriers and dog owners know how to best protect themselves in the instance of a dog bite.
This year’s theme is “Secure your dog, keep deliveries on track.”
Incidents involving dog attacks on Postal Service employees rose to more than 6,000 cases last year.
The USPS gave crucial information on how dog owners can be good stewards for safe mail delivery and ensure the safety of everyone.
“Not everybody wants to pet your dog and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said professional dog trainer, Hector Hernandez. “In the scope of the letter carrier’s jobs, they should not be touching your dog, they shouldn’t, they have a job to do. What happens is we often don’t know as letter carriers how these dogs are treated. If they think hands are weappns, the dog might bite their hand.”
All dogs regardless of breed, size or age have the potential to bite; so Hernandez offered some advice about unpredictability during his presentation.
According to the most recent USPS data, Detroit ranks as the 13th highest city with 32 dog attacks last year.
Michigan, overall, had the 7th most dog bites of any state. Michigan law states a dog owner will be liable for all damages restulting from a dog bite when the victim is either on public property or lawfully on private property.
The USPS also issued a reminder that when a carrier feels unsafe, mail service can be stopped, which provides another reason for dog owners to keep the animals safely away from mail carriers.
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